Chapter 80: Grenade Demining

Chapter 80: Grenade Demining

The "Boom ......" battle began with the sound of unseated rear guns and mortars.

However, unlike usual, these recoilless guns and mortars were not aimed at the 417 hilltop position, but at the Vietnamese troops hiding at the foot of the 417 heights. Now that we've discovered their hiding location, those one-man anti-artillery 'holes' can no longer guarantee the personal safety of the Yue devils.

If it was during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, maybe I would have been unable to dispatch cold-gun troops to exterminate these rat-like Vietnamese troops. No way, there was a shortage of shells at that time...... We had to sacrifice the rations of several fighters in exchange for one shell. But now it is different, although the quality of the shells in the counterattack is not very good, and there are always a few duds out of ten rounds, but the number of shells is still quite sufficient, at least for me who came from the Korean War.

Of course, it is difficult for ordinary artillery shells to kill and injure those Vietnamese troops who are hiding in single-man air raid "shelters". The main reason is that the Vietnamese army's one-man air raid 'shelter' is right at the foot of the mountain, and above is the slope of the 417 heights. As long as the shells hit a little higher, they would explode on the inclined plane and could not pose a threat to the Vietnamese troops in the 'hole'. But fortunately, recoilless and mortars do not only fire ordinary shells, they can also fire incendiary shells......

This is not the case with incendiary bombs, which explode and quickly expand and ignite a raging fire. Therefore, even if it does not directly hit the mouth of the Vietnamese army's air defense 'hole' and 'hole', it will ignite a fire at its 'hole'.

With the full support of the Chief of Staff, it was not difficult to bring in dozens of 'mortars', recoilless guns, and hundreds of incendiary bombs. In addition, Zhu Jixing and other artillery scouts carefully surveyed the coordinates, so a row of raging fires ignited at the foot of the 417 Heights in just one shell.

Suddenly, there were bursts of terrible screams from the flames, and some Vietnamese soldiers let the incendiary bombs light on the spot, and hurriedly crawled out of the air-raid 'shelter' to escape, but what they didn't expect was ...... Outside the 'hole' meant that there were more fire heads, so he soon became a fire man, jumping and running like a monkey in the flames......

Looking at this tragic situation of the Vietnamese army, the soldiers' expressions were very calm, no one fired to solve their pain, and no one continued, just quietly watched the Vietnamese soldiers fall one by one in the pain of burning themselves, rolling, 'convulsing', and finally stopped moving.

"Put!" When these Vietnamese soldiers were tortured to death, Zhu Jixing, who was in charge of firing the artillery, ordered another row of shells to be fired again.

With a roar, the flames burned more vigorously and more violently, and the original fire made these shells splash everywhere as soon as they exploded, and the burning range increased several times in an instant, and some Vietnamese soldiers were burned to death before they could even crawl out of the air-raid "shelter." So this time, we only heard screams from the flames, but we didn't see anyone.

The result is obvious, in this case, even if those Vietnamese soldiers are not burned to death, they will suffocate to death due to lack of oxygen! During the Korean War, I suffered greatly from the U.S. military's incendiary bombs, and of course I knew how lethal they could be.

"Smoke out!" I watched the flames burning on the opposite side for a while, and when I saw that it was almost over, I immediately gave an order.

"Yes!" The soldiers answered, and immediately poured the pre-prepared car tires with gasoline and rolled them into the open field one by one. Then a chemical defense soldier raised his gun and pulled the trigger on the tires, and a large fire soon broke out in front of the open field. The tires, in particular, were all burning and a black smoke was emitting a thick black smoke that soon covered the entire open field.

This is a method we commonly used during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, in order to release black smoke to interfere with the sight of US military planes in the sky, but we did not expect that it could also be used at this time.

......The Vietnamese troops on the hilltop position panicked as soon as they saw the black smoke covering the open field, and the shells quickly smashed in this direction, and the bullets of the high-altitude machine guns were also piled up here in pieces, only to hit the open field in a rain of bullets.

I 'handed over' to my hometown and Xu Yongjian on the walkie-talkie, and then took the fifth company from another road to the direction of Kuoma Mountain.

The task of the 4th and 6th Companies was to attract the attention of the Vietnamese army with fire and shouting on the front, and the Vietnamese army had no idea what was going on in the open field anyway, because the open field was already shrouded in black smoke. Once the Vietnamese fire stopped, the soldiers only had to shoot at the 417 heights and shout again...... So the Vietnamese army will start a new round of firepower. I am not worried that the Vietnamese army will not be deceived, because once the Vietnamese army becomes suspicious and does not carry out firepower, then it is good that the fourth and sixth companies will launch a real charge.

The firepower of the Vietnamese army is set on the open ground in front of the 417 heights, and if our army successfully rushes through this open land, then the Vietnamese army will not have much advantage.

But that's not where my focus is ......

I took the soldiers of the fifth company and hurried along the path, and after a while, I came to the direction of attack of He Liqiang, the commander of the third battalion. The 3rd Battalion, together with the comrades of the 209th Division, who had joined last night, attacked the flank of Kuma Mountain. At this time, he was discussing something with the cadres of the 209th Division in front of the map. Seeing me come up with the troops, I couldn't help but ask a little strangely: "Battalion Commander Cui, why are you here?" Did the Chief of Staff ask you to reinforce us? Why didn't he tell me about it......"

"It's not!" I shook my head and said, "I'm only here to borrow the road!" Think we're here for reinforcements! How's the battle going? ”

"The jungle of Kuma Mountain is too dense!" He Liqiang frowned and said, "Coupled with the fog and poor visibility, many of our fighters can't find an offensive position when they go in. But today we will organize a defensive line on the left side of 417 Heights, so that your attack on 417 Heights will not be as futile as last night! ”

"Hmm!" I nodded, in fact, our attack on 417 only made sense if the friendly forces were protecting the left and right flanks of 417 heights.

But...... I have to admit that I didn't think about the point of attacking 417 Heights before, I just thought about rushing to 417 Heights and killing those more devils!

"The military situation is urgent, I won't say more!" While waving to the soldiers to signal them to move on, I said to He Liqiang: "I will take my troops along your route into Kuoma Mountain, but not to reinforce your troops!" ”

"Understood!" He Liqiang looked at the 417 heights on the flank, seemed to understand something, patted me on the shoulder and said, "Be careful, show those dogs a little 'color'!" ”

Shaking He Liqiang's hand, I turned around and followed the ranks of warriors with a cat.

That's right, all I have to do is make a detour from Kukhao Mountain to the rear of the 417 Heights. As someone familiar with anticline warfare, I know that the weakest point of the anticline is actually the anticline itself, because all his defenses are directed in the other direction, and if we can go around behind them...... That means our guns are right on the back of the enemy.

Is it possible for us to go around to the back of 417 Heights? Maybe the Vietnamese army will think that the view of Kuma Mountain is broad, and all the actions of our army are under their sight, but they will slightly omit one point, that is, the high forest of Kuma Mountain and the dense fog of gunsmoke everywhere, once our army drills into Kuma Mountain, it will be difficult for the Vietnamese army to find our true position and direction of movement even if it is condescending. The closest place to the 417 Heights is only more than 300 meters......

"Woo......" With the whistling of a few shells, several shells exploded around us. Obviously, our unit has been discovered by the Vietnamese army on Kuma Mountain. But just as the Liqiang will treat us as reinforcements for the attack on Kuma Mountain, I think the Vietnamese army will also think the same, and in fact, this is why I took this route.

Before the Vietnamese army could fire a few shots, we plunged headlong into the dense forest of Kuma Mountain. At first, the Vietnamese army would chase us with artillery shells and blow us up for a while, but they soon gave up because they lost our trace.

As He Liqiang said, the place of Kuoma Mountain is indeed high and densely forested, and the towering ancient trees and indescribable shrubs seal the entire highland tightly, and everywhere is 'gloomy' like a Mofa Mountain that has been spelled by a 'witch'.

Originally, I thought that this 417 is such a high ground, no matter where you are, you can see it! But after coming in, I realized that I was wrong, let alone look at the 417 Heights here, and I can't even see the main peak as high as Kuma Mountain!

This made me regret a little that I didn't bring two guides who would be familiar with the terrain of Kuma Mountain just now. However, this does not seem to be realistic, because most of the guides in our army are border people, and they can also come into contact with the relatively close areas around Tongdeng, and I am afraid that there are not many people who are familiar with the strategic place of Kuoma Mountain.

But these can't stop me, aren't they just a few big trees blocking my view? Sending a few nimble fighters to climb the trees with walkie-talkies to guide the way is just a time-consuming and laborious point.

After overcoming all the obstacles on Kuoma Mountain, we made a big circle along the 417 heights, and finally came to our predetermined offensive position. Raise your binoculars and look at Heights 417...... The Vietnamese troops are busy with their work, and the tunnels that were blown up by us yesterday have been opened one by one, and rows of mortars are constantly firing shells on the other side of the high ground, and many Vietnamese troops are running back and forth between positions and tunnels to transport shells, and some are carrying machine gun bullets on their backs to the hilltop position......

It seems that our frontal plan to 'lure' the enemy is still very successful, just as the so-called success is also Xiao He is also defeated, and the Vietnamese army was able to kill and injure our army in large quantities because of that open land, but now it has spent a lot of ammunition and "medicine" and attracted attention because of the open land!

"Battalion commander! Let's fight! Li Zhifu came up with a submachine gun and said: "The soldiers can't wait, the devils seem to be completely defenseless against their backs, let us rush up and kill them!" ”

"Wait!" I picked up my binoculars and looked at the rice fields more than 300 meters away between Kuma Mountain and the 417 Heights. Is it to make it better for them to walk? But there were no footprints on it......

Moreover, the Vietnamese army is also a veteran of anti-slope warfare, and it is impossible for them to 'expose' their weaknesses in front of us without any defense.

Thinking of this, I seemed to understand something, and said to Li Zhifu: "Send two clever soldiers down to see if there are mines planted in that rice field!" ”

Hearing this, Li Zhifu couldn't help but be stunned, answered "yes" and turned around to make arrangements.

But after a while, he hurriedly ran back and said, "Battalion commander, you guessed that the rice field is a minefield, what should I do?" ”

"Hmm!" Although this was expected by me, I still 'twitched' hard in my heart, which meant that if we were to attack, we would have to fight through that minefield.

Offense? If it is in a straggler formation, it means that we will step on more mines, and if the group advances and follows the footsteps of the fighters in front, it means that we will be killed and injured by Vietnamese fire!

Don't attack? They have all arrived here, and it will not be sorry for those sacrificed fighters to return empty-handed, and it will also deal a considerable blow to the morale of the fighters. Just imagine, this time we were holding our breath and wanted to fight to the death with the Yue devils, but who would have thought that we would retreat in the face of difficulties...... That would make our army unable to hold its head up from now on!

"Battalion commander! Give the order! At this time, a soldier with a bloodshot face and eyes came up and said: "We don't care about those mines, didn't you teach us to use grenades to clear mines?" We can throw bombs and rush forward! ”

This soldier is the platoon commander of the sixth platoon, and since his hometown became the commander of the sixth company, the soldiers of the sixth platoon chose him as the platoon commander. It is said that he had the best performance in throwing bombs in the troops, and he threw them 60 to 70 meters at will, so it is no wonder that he proposed to use grenades to clear mines as soon as he came up.

This also seems to be the only way, but ...... Grenade demining is actually very dangerous, the main reason is that the grenades equipped by our army are all powerful defensive grenades, and the killing radius is 20 or 30 meters, which is why the soldiers have to fall on the ground after throwing grenades.

However, the fact that the grenade is now rushing forward while demining, combined with the delay in the grenade's explosion, means that the fighters themselves are likely to be injured by shrapnel from the grenades......

"Battalion commander! Give the order! ”

"Yes, battalion commander! As long as we can kill those devils, we are not afraid of anything! ”

……

Seeing that I was hesitating, the soldiers understood what I was worried about, and they rushed up to fight.

"Hmm!" Looking at the determined expressions of the soldiers, I gritted my teeth and ordered: "The 'shooting' strike team is looking for favorable terrain to lurk in the jungle, and the machine guns, mortars, and rocket launchers are ready for battle according to the distance of the 'firing', and it is required to set up positions within ten minutes!" ”

"Yes!" Zhu Jixing, who came with me, answered, and soon took the machine gun unit to set up the position.

"One, two, three!" I gave orders to several platoon commanders: "Wait for my orders to ambush on the left, front, and right flank of Heights 417!" As soon as the attack began, he used grenades to demine and charge towards the 417 heights at the fastest speed, do you understand? ”

"Understood!" The platoon commanders answered, and each took his own soldiers to lurk in three ways.

I crawled in the grass with my sniper rifle for a while, leaning against an old tree and holding the sniper rifle to the roots.

Although I also wanted to rush forward and fight the Vietnamese army like other soldiers, as a sniper with a VD sniper rifle in my hand, there is no doubt that I can play a better role from a distance.

"The cannon battery is ready!"

"A row is ready!"

……

One by one, the voices of the fighters preparing came from the walkie-talkie, and I took one last look at the mine-ridden rice field below in the sniper scope, gritted my teeth and said, "Hit!" ”

At the same time, the index finger pulled the trigger, and 600 meters away, a Vietnamese officer who was directing the battle on the inclined plane splattered blood on the spot.

"Boom ......" Our mortars soon rang out, mixed with the roar of light and heavy machine guns, and those shells and bullets flew towards the Vietnamese army in pieces with the soldiers' anger against the Vietnamese army.

The Vietnamese army did not expect that there would suddenly be an enemy situation behind them, and they were beaten into a 'chaotic' mess without defense, and the machine guns were splashed everywhere, and more than a dozen Vietnamese soldiers transporting ammunition and "medicine" without exception screamed and fell to a pool of blood, and the ammunition "medicine" on their shoulders fell to the ground and was sprinkled everywhere.

The artillery under Zhu Jixing's command was even sharper, and he had already identified the Vietnamese army's firepower points and allocated the firepower of our army's mortars.

At this time, I stopped, and the Vietnamese army had not been able to organize an effective defense, so I could not find a target worthy of my 'shooting' for the time being.

"Boom ......" There was a roar at the foot of the mountain, and the soldiers of the fifth company had already divided into three directions to attack the Vietnamese army. Of course, before that, the fighters had to pass through the minefield, which was nearly 300 meters long.

The fighters were well coordinated, they divided into several groups and took turns throwing bombs on their own path, and with a loud bang, they constantly caused a chain explosion in the rice fields, and the fighters rushed forward after these explosions......

Suddenly, one of the fighters collapsed in the explosion, apparently rushing too fast and wounded under shrapnel from his own grenade. The other warriors knew this very well, but their steps did not pause at all, and they still rushed forward in great strides.

The three platoons rushed towards the Vietnamese troops on the 417 heights like three sharp knives, and although their speed was already very fast, I felt that it was not enough. Because I knew that the well-trained Vietnamese army would soon organize a defense......